The present disclosure relates to a diffractive optical element in which two optical members are stacked, and a diffraction grating is formed at an interface between the two optical members; and to an optical device including the diffractive optical element.
A diffractive optical element has been known, in which a plurality of optical members are stacked, and a relief pattern is formed at an interface between the optical members.
In a diffractive optical element described in, e.g., Japanese Patent Publication No. 09-127321, a relatively low-refractive high-dispersive optical material, and a relatively high-refractive low-dispersive optical material are stacked, and a diffraction grating having a saw-tooth cross-sectional shape is formed at an interface between the optical materials. More specifically, the diffractive optical element is configured so that a refractive index difference between the two optical materials is smaller for light having a shorter wavelength, and is larger for light having a longer wavelength. In a diffractive optical element described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2009-217139, a combination of such optical materials reduces wavelength dependency of diffraction efficiency.